


change of plans

by mvrcredi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Italian Tony Stark, Lazy Mornings, M/M, Marriage Proposal, POV Steve Rogers, Sleep talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 16:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16371365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mvrcredi/pseuds/mvrcredi
Summary: Tony talks in his sleep.





	change of plans

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: thank you so much to Lilith for the corrections!

It was very late when Steve had finally arrived home from his latest mission.

He had left his duffel in the living room, not wanting to disturb his sleeping boyfriend—that is, if he was even in the penthouse. It wasn’t foreign to Steve to have to drag Tony from the workshop and into a proper bed to get some rest.

He crept through the hall, keeping all lights off even when he reached their room. There wasn’t a need, truly—the lights of New York nightlife were plenty when their curtains weren’t drawn over their floor to ceiling windows. Tony must have forgot to shut them again because, speaking of, the brunet was draped across the bed, mostly on Steve’s side, snoring softly. Steve smiles fondly.

He undresses quietly, discarding his clothes on the arm chair they kept tucked away in the corner of the room. That’s when he hears Tony speak. Steve would be lying if he said he hadn’t jumped at least a little.

“Puoi leggermi una storia, mamma?” he mumbles. _Can you read me a story, mom?_

Steve smiles as he crawls into bed next to Tony, manoeuvering around his limbs as to not wake him. He had never realized Tony talked in his sleep—let alone in Italian. He found this endearing.

“Magari un'altra volta, tesoro,” Steve chuckles, brushing a messy strand of hair out of Tony’s face. _Maybe another time, sweetheart._

Ever since Steve had discovered Tony spoke fluent Italian, he had been taking lessons unbeknownst to his boyfriend, hoping one day he might be able to surprise him. Steve had wanted to propose to Tony in Italian, because it was a language that meant so much to him, but he was still working out a few things. Making sure they were at that point in their relationship, for one thing. Steve knew he was ready, but he also knew that Tony had had commitment issues in the past, and Steve wasn’t quite ready to lose this yet.

Tony stirs, but doesn’t wake. It’s minutes later, when he speaks once more.

“Te lo prometto, mamma, non lo dirò,” he utters. Steve furrows his eyebrows. _I promise, mom, I won’t tell._

Steve had no idea what he could possibly mean by this. It both confused and worried him. However, as much as he would like to ask Tony, the man needed sleep, and Steve felt there was something important there. Private. Personal. And he didn’t like to invade.

Tony continues mumbling phrases, or a word or two here and there, right until Steve falls asleep himself.

 

-=-

 

Steve is at the stove making pancakes when he hears Tony stumble in. He laughs as he hears the scraping of feet across the floor. If he were groaning, Steve might think he became a zombie overnight.

“Buongiorno, Tony,” Steve hums.

“Good morning to you too, St—“ Tony pauses, footsteps coming to a halt. “Wait.”

“Didn’t think you’d realize,” Steve laughs. He shuts off the stove, saying, “And _I_ didn’t realize you talk in your sleep.”

Steve moves the pan off the element, turning around to find Tony looking utterly mortified. A rosy blush is blooming on his cheeks. There’s an amused twinkle in Steve’s eyes as he makes his way over to his boyfriend.

Steve immediately draws Tony into a deep kiss, into which his lover melts. Tony pouts when Steve eventually pulls away, grinning.

“Il tuo italiano è bellissimo, a proposito,” he tells the brunet. Tony looks shy, almost—an expression Steve had rarely seen on him. _Your Italian is beautiful, by the way._

“E il tuo potrebbe migliorare,” Tony retorts. _And y_ _ours could improve._ “I didn’t realize you spoke it.”

“I’ve been practicing,” Steve admits, shrugging. “Wanted it to be a surprise, though.”

Tony tilts his head. “And why is that?”

It was Steve’s turn to blush, though for him it rose up his neck to the tip of his ears. “Can’t tell you. It’s a secret. I have to keep _some_ of the surprise, right?”

Tony rolls his eyes. “Tease,” he peeks around Steve’s shoulder, into the kitchen. “Do tell some of those are for me. I’m hungry.”

“Hm,” Steve ponders in mock thought. “You know, I’m not quite sure. I’m pretty hungry myself, if I do say so.”

“I hate you,” Tony grumbles.

“No you don’t,” Steve sticks out his tongue.

Tony sighs. “Unfortunately, you’re right. For once. Now, I’m going to go down at least a quarter of that huge stack of pancakes, if you’ll excuse me.”

Tony pushes lightly past Steve, making a beeline for the pancakes, a plate or utensils not being taken into consideration. Steve just watches after him affectionately.

 

-=-

 

As it would turn out, Tony ends up completely spoiling Steve’s surprise.

After almost a year of summoning courage, after having the perfect ring made (not bought, _made),_ and preparing the speech he thought captured everything he wanted to say, the brunet just goes and ruins everything.

Out of the blue, on a calm, Tuesday morning, Tony asks simply, “Hey, do you wanna get married?”

Steve, though internally throwing his hands in the air and exclaiming his frustration, like a dumbass, replies with, “Sure.”

That was how it happened.

Not Steve’s ideal proposal, but hey, at least they were getting somewhere.

 

 

(Steve does, however, show Tony the ring and tell him about his proposal after some time. Even now, six years later, they still laugh over the anticlimactic result, as well as the just _awful_ mistiming of it all. Yet, neither could ask for any better.)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where this idea came from, but I really enjoyed writing this. I am so, so sorry if I totally botched the Italian, as it is not a language I speak, or have learned much of. Now, if I had written the story to have French, then I wouldn't be so worried.
> 
> But anyway, the moral is- if there are corrections to be made, please tell me! I'd appreciate it so so much.
> 
>  
> 
> _Ciao! ;)_
> 
>  
> 
> (Also! Come join me on [tumblr!](https://mvrcredi.tumblr.com/))


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